Double Trouble by Erosa Knowles Page A

had scared her to the point she couldn’t face them. That didn’t fit the Lindy he had loved, but what else could it have been?
    The fight never should’ve happened.
    She had been honest and upfront with the two of them. He and Blaine had discussed the both of them dating her and agreed it would be okay. But no matter what she said, he always felt she liked Blaine’s easy going personality better. It seemed the places Blaine took her made her laugh more than the sporting events or the small jazz clubs where he took her. In his mind, he didn’t receive the same lighthearted responses. At that time it never occurred to him it was the places they visited that had created her reactions. He’d been blinded by jealousy that day he saw Blaine pushing her in the swing. Her joyous laughter reached him and the green monster went to work. Before his mind could process what to do next, his feet moved and he stood in front of the surprised couple.
    Not once did she turn on him, instead she smiled at him, inviting him silently to enjoy her pleasure. But at the time, he didn’t interpret anything in such simple terms. No. He saw another man bringing his woman joy and it pissed him off. Every conversation he and Blaine ever had regarding their relationships with her flew out the window. He had stepped closer to his brother and grabbed his hand to stop him from touching Lindy. Of course, Blaine took exception to his attitude and pushed him away.
    Equally matched, the pushing and shoving escalated to fists being thrown and wrestling on the ground while Lindy yelled at them to stop. By the time they were too winded to continue and stopped throwing punches, she had left the park. His father locked both of them down the next few days, preventing him from going to her and apologizing since she did not answer his calls.
    After three days of lengthy lectures from their dad and Uncle Nate on the proper actions of O’Connor men, they were allowed to leave the house again. He’d driven like a crazed man to her home, where her older brother told them she had gone to visit her godmother in Georgia. He remembered she had told him of the visit but with everything going on, he had forgotten. With Lindy out of town, he and Blaine had their first real heart to heart on allowing women or anyone to come between them. Having similar tastes in almost everything, it wasn’t that surprising that they had fallen in love with the same woman, but the fallout was too great to ever repeat what happened with Lindy. From that day, if it appeared there might be a problem with a female, he nipped the relationship in the bud.
    “Why did you leave?” He whispered the question on the airwaves. More importantly, he wondered why she hadn’t contacted him, not once, in seventeen years. He had talked to her friends and no one had heard from her. Was she ashamed of the pregnancy? Is that why she cut everyone off? It boggled his mind that she had a baby, and possibly went through that alone. If only she had called, he and Blaine would have been at her side every step of the way.
    “Megan and Cameron are waiting for you in the dungeon, they said you told them to meet you there…should I tell them to go to their rooms?”
    Donald nodded. He wasn’t in the mood to play with the servants. No doubt they would be disappointed, but he never wielded a paddle or whip when his head wasn’t engaged. And right now his thoughts were in Michigan with a deceitful bitch. He threw another pebble.
    Donald glanced over his shoulder at Blaine, who spoke softly on his cell.
    “You okay?” Blaine asked.
    “No. But that’s not important. I did some research on Belinda. There’s no information on her after she left here, it’s like someone wiped away those years. Nothing until ten years ago. She worked in Social Services.” He chuckled at the image of someone trying to sell her a load of BS and her calling them on the carpet.
    “Yeah, I saw that.”
    Donald smiled. “You checked